Head South

OK, so while you buy the “travel when others aren’t” idea in theory, maybe you’re just not willing to step out of our dangerous but familiar coccoon and into an unfamiliar frontier of SARS, terrorism, and flag burning. Well there’s a place for you too, and it’s not so far away. It’s called Latin America and if you head down there right now, they’ll be damn glad to see you. While the New World Order, Round II may make them a bit uneasy, they know their future lies with the tourists and trading partners to the north. (Just stay away from Columbia and Caracas…)

Here are a few choice airfares from my home town of Nashville, TN that were posted in Smarter Living’s newsletter this week. It’s cheaper still if you live near a major international airport. $468 Rio de Janiero, BRAZIL $468 Sao Paolo, BRAZIL $560 Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA

If you’re lucky enough to be living somewhere like Miami, you can now get to Latin America cheaper than you can to many cities in the US via null: $240 San Jose, COSTA RICA $215 Caracas, VENEZUELA $199 Roatan, HONDURAS

And if you scoot on over to Skyauction.com, you’ll find that people are scoring deals like the ones below (click on “winners” to see what people already paid, but factor in the site’s fees, which can add quite a bit.) I’ve booked a vacation through this company and it worked out great. If you’re unsure about a listed hotel, check TripAdvisor.com for user reviews.

7 nights at a resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with air from L.A., for FOUR people: $1,011 total

7 night all-inclusive resort stay in Costa Rica, including air for two from five different cities: $982 total

7 nights at a first-class hotel in Panama City, Panama: $297 total

Avoid the crowds, save a bundle, and get a smidgen of culture along the way!

Tim Leffel's Cheapest Destinations Blog was established in 2003 and is one of the most popular single-writer travel blogs in the world, with more than 80,000 monthly unique readers. With advice on the cheapest places to travel, the cheapest places to live, and how to circle the globe for less. Back to Top ↑